


Swan Song

by anothermiracle



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Karezi, upd8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-29 14:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothermiracle/pseuds/anothermiracle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>The trees clear and a path opens for you. The scene that greets you makes you want to heave out whatever godforsaken wingbeasts you’d eaten a few hours back.</em>
</p><p>A synonym for the last appearance of something beautiful that rests in the remaining shreds of Karkat Vantas' sanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swan Song

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, I wrote this way before Aranea released Gamzee, and Terezi was still stabbing him non-stop. Any recognizable plot lines or phrases or sentences or ideas are purely coincidental.

You’re running as fast as you can. You have absolutely no idea where you’re going but the trail Strider had left behind is enough to keep your senses heightened and your feet moving. Your legs are burning with exhaustion and your bloodpusher is beating a hundred miles an hour, but you don’t stop.

 

You can’t stop.

 

Something important, something radical is going to happen. You can feel it in your bones. Your blood is singing a grim tune, surging and jumping to a morose rhythm. Cold sweat drips down the side of your face, and your teeth sink into your bottom lip.

 

A gurgled cry fills the air, and a flash of fear strikes through you like lightning.

 

_Shit. Shit. Shitshitshit goddammit._

 

You know that voice.

 

_Fuck._

 

The trees clear and a path opens for you. The scene that greets you makes you want to heave out whatever godforsaken wingbeasts you’d eaten a few hours back.

 

It’s that insane too-wide, too-maniacal grin. It’s those dirty, bloody fingernails. It’s the wrangled, wiry hair. He lifts his gaze up at you, and amusement crosses his eyes. By his side, a body spasms with shortened pants. It coughs, and you see blood splatter all over the floor.

 

_Oh God. Oh God._

 

Terezi looks up at you, a red scarf wrung around her neck in a chokehold. Her face is decolorizing at an alarmingly quick rate, her eyes growing unfocused as she stares at you.

 

You want to move. _Goddammit, MOVE._ Your mind is screaming at you, to do something, _anything, for fuck’s sake SAVE HER._

 

A crazed scream tears from your mouth and your scythes are in your hands before you can register the shouted warning Kanaya hurls at you. You’re running again, your hands flying behind you.

 

He watches your onslaught with an amused grin, which soon deforms into a savage one. He laughs and proceeds to throw Terezi to the side, her head bashing against the cement. She lies there, still spasming, only this time her eyes close. Blinded by rage, you proceed your murderous intent on the clown.

 

Gamzee dodges the first few flings you send him, but fails to escape your unending flurry of unplanned, haphazard strikes. Your slashes run over a series of holes in his body. A quick glance at the indigo staining her now-forgotten sword and you know Terezi’s attempts to weaken him had not been in vain. So you finish what she had started and, finally, send the clown down where he belongs.

 

Your body wracks with heavy pants, and you feel Kanaya’s gaze trained on you. Turning around, your eyes slightly hooded in exhaustion, you feel your knees give way, and she catches you before you fall. You cling onto her like a man finding an oasis in a dessert, relishing in the much-needed support and comfort she naturally exudes. She grasps you gently, and leads you over to where she knows you need to be.

 

Gently placing you down next to Terezi, Kanaya mumbles a parting and retreats to find the one you know she cares for the most. At her diminishing footsteps, you crawl over the wrangled body on the floor. You listen for a heartbeat, and to your unadulterated relief, it’s there – faint – but there.

 

“Terezi,” you whisper. “Terezi, open your eyes.”

 

A breath.

 

“Tez. Tez- _please_.”

 

Her face scrunches up, and a moan escapes her mouth. It takes a while, but her eyes eventually flutter open. They struggle to stay open though, as the black of her eyes dart sporadically around and her eyelids fall every few seconds. You let out a deep breath and your head hangs over hers in relief.

 

“K-Kar-“

 

“I’m here. Don’t worry. I’m here. You’re going to be alright, okay Tez? You’re going to live. Look, he’s not there to hurt you anymore, he’s gone. You can finally be free, Tez, you hear me? No more wicked elixirs, no more motherfucking miracles, you’re gonna be just fine, okay? Tez? TEZ!”

 

Your hand grips hers hard, and you bring it up to brush your lips against her knuckles. She’s gasping for breath again, teal tears falling from her eyes and making their way down her cheeks.

 

“I-it hurts.”

 

“I know it hurts, but you’ve got to stay with me. W-we’re gonna get help. Tez you can’t die on me now, _please,_ Tez. I’m begging you, stay with me!”

 

You look around for someone, _anyone,_ who can do something. But to no avail. The both of you lie alone on the cold hard gravel, in the pool of teal that is slowly growing larger by the minute. Her chest rises and falls almost dramatically, and you can feel the sobs building and slipping through your parted lips.

 

“K-karkat, I-I don’t think I can-“

 

“NO. You stay with me, Terezi Pyrope! I am your fucking leader, and I ORDER you to stay with me!”

 

Your cries seem to fall on deaf ears, but thankfully she chuckles wetly, wheezing her reply.

 

“Since when- Since when, have I listened to y-your orders, Karkat?” She speaks, a fresh stream of tears running from her eyes. You hear the implied message and your eyes go wide. Clutching her shoulders as tight as you can without hurting her, you stare into her eyes. There is guilt, sadness, desperation and-

 

Defeat.

 

Your hands rise to cup the back of her head. You lean your forehead against hers and close your eyes.

 

Her breathing slows, the puffs of air against your lips begin to lack volume.

 

You brush chapped lips against hers.

 

And with the final heave of her chest, she breathes out.

 

_“Flushed for you.”_

**Author's Note:**

> I'd always thought Karkat would become really polite when he gets really desperate.
> 
> _Follow me on tumblr: another-miracle.tumblr.com - I post Karezi fics periodically_


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